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Bencherif on course for return

Hamza Bencherif is confident he will be ready to make his return to action for the start of next season.

By Chris Galea

Last Updated: 25/05/10 10:35pm

Macclesfield Town defender Hamza Bencherif is confident he will be ready to make his return to action for the start of next season.

The Algerian centre-half has been sidelined since early December after a horror tackle left his ankle shattered and ended his season prematurely.

The former Nottingham Forest youngster was also on the fringes of making the Algeria World Cup squad, but he told skysports.com that the pain is behind him now and he is focused on coming back strongly next term.

"Everything is behind me now, but it was really hard to go six months without playing a game, so it has been horrible," said Bencherif.

"I am just concentrating on being fit for the 1st July, so that I can resume pre-season training with the rest of the lads.

"I am anxious to play again and the first game of the season is my target now.

"I was back in training a few weeks before the season finished, so now I'm just doing extra work to get me back up to speed.

"I'm confident I will be back to the level of fitness that the rest of the squad are at by the time pre-season begins."